


The Way to a Man's Heart... Is Through His White Breeches

by WitchoftheWaste



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drabble, F/F, Fencing, Fencing AU, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 09:05:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3686361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchoftheWaste/pseuds/WitchoftheWaste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Morgana's not so humble opinion, Merlin has spent far too much time ogling the gorgeous Arthur Pendragon at the Oxford University Fencing Club. This week, she does something about it.<br/>Morgana is utterly badass, Gwen spends most of her time laughing, Arthur is unexpectedly shy, and Merlin is his usual adorable self.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way to a Man's Heart... Is Through His White Breeches

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, this fic is unbeta-ed, so any mistakes are my own. Secondly, all characters belong to the BBC and Shine; no copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Finally, this has quite a lot of fencing jargon, so here's a little glossary for you all:  
> *Compound-riposte - an attack made immediately after a parry of the opponent's attack made with one or more offensive movements resembling an attack, intended to draw a reaction from an opponent.  
> *Foil - a light fencing weapon, with a thin, bendy blade. The foil can only be used as a stabbing weapon. When using a foil, a fencer can only score a valid point when they hit the torso of their opponent.  
> *Épée - a heavier fencing weapon, with a less flexible blade. The épée can only be used as a stabbing weapon. When using an épée, a fencer can score a point by hitting any part of their opponent, even their feet.  
> *Sabre - a fencing weapon, with a flat blade. The sabre can be used for cutting and/or stabbing.  
> *Rapier - a long fencing weapon, with a double-edged blade. The rapier can be used for cutting, but has mostly become a stabbing weapon.  
> *'En garde. Prêt. Allez!' - 'On guard. Ready. Go!' This command is said at the beginning of a match by the referee.  
> *Appel - Stamping the front foot to the ground, to produce a sound to distract or startle the opponent.  
> *Yellow card - A warning, used to indicate a minor rule infraction.  
> *Corps-à-corps - 'Body to body'. The action of two fencers coming into physical contact with one another with any portion of their bodies or hilts. This is illegal in foil and sabre bouts.  
> *Semicircular parry - A parry that moves from a high line to a low line, or vice versa.  
> *Balestra - 'A sudden leap'. A footwork preparation, consisting of a jump forwards. It is most often, but not always, immediately followed by a lunge.  
> *Touché' - The fencer who is hit acknowledges the hit.  
> *Flèche - 'Arrow'. The rear leg is brought in front of the front leg and the fencer sprints past his/her opponent. This action is currently not allowed during sabre bouts, because the front and rear legs must not cross.

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't. People who looked that good in those stupid white breeches shouldn't be allowed. Especially not when the sunlight was reflecting off their hair like that and they were smiling with that little crooked tooth...

'Merlin, put your eyes back in. For Christ's sake, we haven't even started yet, and you've already got a streak of drool on your chin.' Morgana smirked down at him, as she began to pull her long black hair into a ponytail.

Merlin hated to admit it, but drooling over a certain blond fencer had become something of a tradition. Every Thursday afternoon, the more advanced members of the Oxford University Fencing Club got together to hit each other with pointy metal things, while wearing overly tight white breeches. Or at least, that was Merlin's interpretation of the situation. He had only started coming to watch, because Gwen, his best friend of six years, had insisted he accompany her so that she didn't get lonely and embarrassed. Gwen always went to watch her girlfriend, Morgana, the captain of the women's fencing team.

To say that Morgana Pendragon had something of a reputation was a vast understatement. Her glare alone was feared throughout the country. But the seemingly cold 'Queen Morgana' did have a heart after all.

Gwen and Morgana had a snarky relationship in front of other people, but the minute they thought no one was watching, they started offering each other cupcakes and staring into each other's eyes. Merlin found it mildly sickening.

But going to watch the Club was not without joys. There was Morgana's younger brother, the most unfairly gorgeous captain the men's fencing team had ever had, and the biggest prat to grace Merton college (an already prat-filled university,  in Merlin's opinion). But Arthur did have a nice arse, especially when it was packaged in those white breeches... But Merlin wasn't drooling! Not really!

He was rudely yanked back to reality by Morgana waving her hand up and down in front of his face. He tore his eyes away from Arthur's hair (and other bits of him too, if he was honest), and glared up at his tormentor.

'What?'

Morgana just gestured to Arthur and rolled her eyes. 'Ask. Him. Out.'

Gwen, being the sweetheart that she was, managed to distract Morgana by giving her a quick kiss and whispering something in her ear. A whistle sounded somewhere, and Morgana dashed off to start showing some of the less deadly members of the club why their compound-riposte was wrong.

Gwen plonked herself down on the uncomfortable little bench next to Merlin and poked him. 'I may have saved you this time, because I love you, but she's right. You've been staring at him for five weeks. It's not healthy.'

'Gwen, he's an arse.' Gwen gave Merlin a look. 'That's not what I meant! I meant he's a posh git.'

'Are you criticising me for dating Morgana? She's posh too, in case you've forgotten. Merlin, look around. This is Oxford university, not Birmingham. It's not like there are no posh people here.'

Merlin sighed. He hated it when Gwen came over all correct. It was so frustrating.

His response died on his lips though when he noticed what Arthur was up to. In an entirely unnecessary manner, he had dropped his glove, and was bending down to pick it up. Dear God, was he trying to kill Merlin? White should not be that attractive! Even if those breeches left absolutely nothing to the imagination...

Hearing Gwen's giggle, Merlin snapped his head around and glared at her. 'I was just... um... making sure... he picked up his glove. Those things are important... Right?'

Unhelpfully, Gwen just laughed harder.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Merlin was surprised, when, near the end of the session, Morgana and Arthur agreed to have a match with the foils, 'for old times' sake', whatever that meant. Usually, they never fenced each other, and he had never seen Arthur use a foil before. He usually fenced with an épée or a sabre, although there had been that memorable occasion a few weeks ago, where Arthur had a rapier bout with Valiant. According to Morgana, rapier was 'the best', because you could punch people. Valiant had left, clutching his stomach.

As Morgana was taking a drink and redoing her ponytail (for reasons Merlin couldn't quite fathom, it never failed to fall down at some point), Gwen went up and put her arms around Morgana's waist. Unusually for her, Morgana leaned into the touch.

'Sweetie,' Gwen said quietly, 'you never fence Arthur. Are you okay? Is this about that time Morgause beat him last year? Because she got that red card for a reason.'

Morgana rolled her eyes and pulled away. 'He's not going to beat me. Don't you remember that story I told you about when he first came to Oxford? He was so cocky, and I knocked him down a peg or two.' She smirked at the memory. 'You'll see.'

She glanced at Merlin and then leaned over and whispered something in Gwen's ear. Merlin frowned.

Gwen went back to Merlin, chewing a nail.

'What was that about?' he asked quietly.

'You'll see,' she whispered back, with an infuriating wink.

Merlin sighed, and decided to ignore it. Gwen and Morgana were always hatching plots together.

'My money's on Morgana,' he said, changing the subject. 'You've seen Gwaine and Leon leaving bouts with her. They could barely walk last time. She's even beaten Percy, and he's three times her size, with the reach to make it a serious issue.'

'Of course Morgana will win,' Gwen said proudly. 'But Arthur will put up a fight. He'll probably get four points, she'll get five, and the bout will be hers. That's what happened last time, when you weren't here. He doesn't like getting beaten by the girls.' She grinned and added, 'Remind him not to be so stuffy when you two are married.'

'For the last time Gwen, we are not getting married! We've exchanged precisely eight words. He sat on the hedgehog, which I certainly didn't put there deliberately, and then he said 'Owwww, damn, bloody hell, owww' and some other superior sounding stuff. There may even have been a proper swear word in there somewhere.'

'How is 'owww' superior sounding?' Gwen said, with an indulgent smile. Merlin had retold this battle many times, but he never explained why the hedgehog have been there in the first place.

'Shhhhh!' Merlin waved a hand frantically. 'They're starting.'

Arthur and Morgana had not bothered to do the bout with electrics, since it was the end of the day, so Leon had to referee.

They both put on their helmets and saluted each other.

'En garde. Prêt. Allez!' shouted Leon.

Suddenly, they both sped into action, dodging back and forth so quickly that it was hard for Merlin to follow. Arthur had the benefit of height, it was clear, but Morgana was faster.

They weaved back and forth for a while, too evenly matched for either of them to score a point. Merlin fiddled with an end of his scarf, never taking his gaze off the fencers.

Eventually, Arthur used an appel, stamping his front foot to surprise Morgana, and he quickly followed it up with a lunge.

'Halt!' Leon said. They froze, Arthur's foil digging into Morgana's ribs. 'A point to Arthur.'

And they began to fight again. This time, Morgana was more aggressive, always moving forward. Arthur was now constantly on the defensive, parrying and parrying again, until there was no air between them, just a quiet battle of strength, each pushing with their foils. But Morgana's footwork was weakening; Arthur was stronger than her. However, just before she fell back, she leaned forward a little more and whispered something inaudible in Arthur's ear.

'Halt! I should give you both yellow cards,' said Leon, looking extremely long suffering. 'Corps-à-corps is against the rules of foil. I'll let you off this time, if only because I know you'd both beat me to death. Heaven forbid, I should actually dare give a Pendragon any kind of card, other than a business card.'

Morgana's grin was clear through her mask, but Arthur looked more thoughtful as they took their places again.

From the minute they started fencing again, it was clear Arthur's mind was no longer on the bout. His lunges were half-hearted, and even his famous Pendragon footwork was below par. Morgana quickly got in three quick points, taking full advantage of his disorientation. The score was now 3-1 to Morgana.

'Gwen,' Merlin said urgently, as they took their places again. 'What did Morgana tell him? He's been off ever since she whispered whatever it was. You must know. '

Gwen just smiled coyly and shook her head. Merlin sighed. Trust Morgana to hatch some plot to win the bout, and somehow ruin Merlin's life in the process.

When Arthur not only missed Morgana when she was wide open for attack, but also fell for one of her feints, letting her score another point, Leon sighed and pulled him away from the match for a second. Merlin could hear Leon quite audibly, which meant everyone there probably could too.

'Arthur, what's the matter with you? The score is 4-1, and you just missed. You never, ever miss. Come on, mate. Get your act together.'

Merlin must have been dreaming, because he saw Arthur briefly glance his way, before saying something too quiet for Merlin to hear.

Arthur and Leon walked back to Morgana, and they began again. This time, Arthur was clearly more focused. After a few semicircular parries, and some stuff so fast that Merlin didn't fully understand it, Arthur, using a balestra, hit Morgana in the stomach.

'Touché,' said Morgana, acknowledging Arthur's point before Leon could call it. At 4-2 to her, she could still afford to be generous.

However, this time, Arthur managed to score another two points, through a series of disengage and hits.

'I told you so,' Gwen said, poking Merlin in the ribs. 'She'll get the last one now. Watch.'

After a series of feints and disengages, lunges that were only parried and riposted, Arthur finally used what Merlin knew was one of his favourite moves in épée: the flèche. He extended his arm, and charged Morgana, who calmly waited until his side was open as he ran past, and scored her final hit.

Merlin let out a breath, he hadn't known he was holding. Gwen actually leapt to her feet and clapped.

'Touché, Morgana,' said Arthur, pulling off his helmet. And damn it all if Merlin was momentarily captivated by how unfairly gorgeous he looked. His hair was damp with sweat, but his eyes were blue and clear and his bottom lip was jutting out in an adorably childish pout.

Arthur and Morgana shook hands, and the session was over. The fencers began to mill about and remove their jackets and gloves. Merlin smiled to himself at the memory of that one lucky time where Arthur had actually pulled off his sweat-soaked shirt and changed in front of everyone. He wondered if Arthur had any shame at all. Not that Merlin _minded_ or anything!

Morgana came over and gave Gwen a kiss and a muttered, 'Don't touch me; I'm sweaty.'

'Congratulations, Morgana. That was an amazing bout,' Merlin said, as she pulled off her jacket and put her foil and glove away.

'Aha, but I am not the important one now, because someone very special _should_ be coming over to see you.'

Merlin looked from side to side frantically. Morgana just rolled her eyes at him dramatically.

'Stop that! You look like a frightened giraffe. Just- Be nice okay. He is my brother, even if I do like to beat him up on a monthly basis.' And with that, she and Gwen linked arms and walked off, leaving Merlin confused and mildly annoyed.

He was just about to leave himself when an all too familiar voice stopped him. 'Um, hi there?'

It probably wasn't the most exciting thing to say, but frankly, Merlin couldn't care less, because there was Arthur, with his bottom lip caught between his teeth. He looked so uncertain that Merlin just wanted to reach out and give him a cuddle. But Merlin didn't do that, because people who had arses that peachy probably didn't want hugs from skinny boys with elephant ears.

Arthur was fiddling with a glove and staring fixedly at his feet. 'Merlin - um - I know that we haven't spoken much, but Morgana says - er -'

'Let me stop you right there. I didn't know she was allergic to apples, so when I gave her that apple martini, it was not a deliberate attempt to poison her, so you do not have to kill me. Okay?'

Arthur smiled, and looked up into Merlin's eyes, and Merlin suddenly couldn't breathe. 'On the contrary, after today's bout, I would have been grateful. That wasn't what I meant...' He gripped the glove harder and suddenly burst out with, 'Would you like to go out with me? Sometime, maybe, if that's all right?'

Merlin must be deaf. Maybe the flushed looking girl behind Arthur had said that. She probably just happened to have a voice that sounded like Arthur's. There was no way, no way in hell that Arthur Pendragon, the most unjustly hot man to ever put on a pair of fencing breeches, was asking him out.

'I'm sorry, what? I mean, _what?'_

Arthur's face fell. 'It's okay. Forget I ever said anything; it was probably just a joke of Morgana's...' And he started to turn away.

Before he could stop himself, Merlin grabbed his hand and pulled Arthur back to face him. 'No! I just wasn't sure I heard you right. Of course. I'd love to. You know, go out. With you. And everything.'

And really, God must have been in a good mood when he created that smile, because Arthur looked like a little boy who had just received a pony _and_ a puppy. Merlin found himself smiling back, smiling so hard his face hurt, but it didn't matter. And they just stood there for a minute smiling at each other like idiots.

Then Arthur leaned forward and said in a low voice, right in Merlin's ear, 'And just so you know, I definitely dropped that glove on purpose.'


End file.
